Tara’s Takes
I’m a firm believer that you should be a lifelong learner. The world is constantly changing and there is always something new.
In our industry, the changes come faster than we can keep up with. But whether it’s a new way of printing, a new program or something else, there is always something new to learn.
The same goes for home. New products to make our lives easier. New recipes that are piling up saved on my phone that I want to try. New ways to eat healthier, be more active, etc.
The point is, there is always something new to learn.
These last two weeks, my something new to learn is how to battle in Pokemon. My boys have been into Pokemon before the most recent resurgence. I remember them watching horribly-animated Pokemon DVDs on long car rides. They’ve collected cards for years.
We’ve gone through the Pokemon T-shirt phase in which they had one for every day of the week.
Now, it’s at a different level.
Now, the card collecting has strategy and reasons behind certain decks. They organize and collect. They appreciate the artwork on the cards. They have attended related events.
And now that he’s spending most of his year in the Cities, Brady has attended a lot more. He’s made friends through the hobby as well.
I’ve watched them “battle” for years now and 1,000% do not understood what they were doing. I’m more of an Old Maid card player. However, with all my time resting at home, I’ve had my fair share of battles.
Now, a Pokemon battle includes each player having a deck. Each deck has basic Pokemon that you can evolve. The more evolved the Pokemon, the more damage they can do to your other players. You also have to have energy cards connected to your Pokemon to do the most damage. Your deck also includes item cards, supporter cards and stadium cards. These cards allow you to draw cards, search for specific needed cards, add Pokemon to your bench, etc.
I know, I confused myself already. But I’m a good sport, so I’ve been trying to learn how to battle in Pokemon. When Brady first asked me to play, he had Ben play “with” me. Essentially, Ben said, “No! Don’t do that!” multiple times as I tried to figure out my next move. He did everything except take the correct card out of my hand and play it.
Now, I will say I won two battles this way. However, I’m not sure it counts as me winning when I had absolutely no idea what happened.
Slowly, Ben let me start trying to figure out my own moves. Many times, these moves were met with a grimace, or Brady — I think out of empathy for my struggles — would just say, “If you do that I will win on the next turn.” So back in my hand that card went. And I’d try something else.
The first game Ben left me 100% on my own to battle Brady; he beat me in literally two minutes. I got one turn before I had made such a stupid error.
I opened up the game for him to destroy me.
We played again, and I think that game lasted five minutes.
We’ve played several games since then. I haven’t won another one. I continue to learn though. Brady has tried to continue to teach me, and I finally figured out he had a strategy. All this time I had just been drawing cards and focused on those few, despite knowing there were better ones in the deck.
He, on the other hand, had constantly been working to get the best cards into his hand as quickly as possible. He had a strategy, while I was just throwing down what I had been handed.
While I hate losing, these Pokemon battles are a lot like everyday life. We know that there are better things out there, but we are sometimes too focused on the hand we’ve been dealt now to see it.
I’m frustrated by having to take it easy, by not being able to just do my normal things without assistance. But if I was actually looking long term, I’d know that my strategy is to be healthy by the end of the month when we go on our pre-planned vacation.
I need to be ready for the college visit I have planned with Ben in August.
So I will continue to learn, and one day I may even beat Brady all on my own. In the meantime, I’ll work on my strategy, both in Pokemon battles and life.
